White House Cottages’ Post

📣 We're in the news! 📣 Almost two weeks ago, we officially took the reins at White House Cottages. Our new home features five characterful, listed cottages, nestled in tranquil countryside just 4 miles from Ledbury. 👉 Read our story in Hereford Times now: http://bit.ly/3fTRHXK #holidaycottage #selfcatering #dogfriendly

Helpful info from Nikki Spoor and White Hart Associates... We know the treasury and chancellor has some tough calls to make on their budget – tax business and/or winter fuel payments. Small self-catering business in coastal and rural areas like ours, support huge amounts of spending to local businesses. We form the bed stock of the fragile eco-system that makes up these visitor economies. Overall, the short-term let sector in Herefordshire contributes an estimated >£500m, and nationwide its £27.7 billion to GDP, supporting almost half a million jobs. We want to grow our lifestyle business and reinvest every penny to improve the product, using local crafts/trades and professionals. We have recently crashed through the VAT threshold, where other small businesses choose not to do so. But margins are thin in our sector, and tax changes may influence our business planning. Furnished holiday lets allow people to explore all that this country has to offer. We should be helping them and protecting the thousands of jobs they support. Let’s not make the same mistakes in England that the regional governments have done in Wales and Scotland. Please pause and listen to the evidence Alistair Handyside MBE, Ellie Chowns, Herefordshire County BID / Visit Herefordshire LVEP, Tourism Alliance, Department for Culture, Media and Sport, ShortTermRentalz, Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), UKHospitality, UK Short Term Accommodation Association (STAA)

Anddd the 500 is up. 🎉🔥 🙌 It’s a tough market out there with this lovely weather 😎 , so we’re more than a little chuffed and a bit surprised to make it this far. 1. We’ve had to learn everything about running a hospitality business, and there's no denying it is hard work. 2. People want to arrive and depart on any day of the week. Our housekeeper comes twice a week during school holidays. So you’ll find us cleaning toilets and making beds on the other days, even at weekends. 3. Angela’s standards are very high, as is her attention to detail. Everything has to be perfect….so we've upgraded the linen, with new fluffy towels, she has hand-crafted designer cushions, and even made lampshades. 4. Other 'surprise and delight' personal touches include fresh flowers from our garden, baking lemon drizzle muffins, cookies, or brownies for our guests. 5. Maintaining our cherished ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Google rating and Angela's 4.97 Airbnb super-host status is the result of a meticulous perfectionist. 😙👌 It’s midweek, we’re full again.  Here's Cam, Sarah and their Black Lab, Frank, who checked out today after a week here - their 7th stay this year! So many guests have come back and we absolutely love seeing them again. Thank You!

Happy to have woken up this morning in this green and pleasant shire 💚🌍🌱 #generalelection2024 #elliechownsmp #northherefordshire #visitherefordshire #positivechange #oneinfour

🌿 🌱🤝 Exciting News! 🌱🤝🌿 We are thrilled to announce that Sustonica has certified our 5 cottages for our sustainability efforts. Our scores average range from 54 to 63 out of 100. Whilst there are a lot of criteria to comply, overall we found the application process went smoothly and would encourage anyone with a short-term rental to take the #SustonicaTest and start their journey. The minimum qualification is just 20, and for larger property managers and companies that are subject to #ESG reporting, this is invaluable tool. Thanks EnviroRental and Bob Garner ⓥ🌳 for your guidance, and Touch Stay whose digital guidebook platform enabled us to achieve maximum points on the community effort. We’ve played host to many like-minded guests, and now hope many more choose us based on our certification with our efforts rewarded through increased visibility and increased demand on the Airbnb & Booking.com portals.   Vanessa de Souza Lage, Andy McNulty, Rachel Parsons Herefordshire County BID / Visit Herefordshire LVEP Fiona Reece Thomas Loughlin Jeremy Willems #Sustainability #SlowTravel #GreenTravel #EcoFriendly #ResponsibleTravel

Shinrin-yoku, or forest bathing, is the simple and therapeutic act of spending time in a forest. 🌳 If you've ever been in a forest, listened to the birds and watched the sunshine filtering through the 🌿 🍂, you've already participated in one of the best things you can do for your physical and mental well-being. Thank you to our wonderful Swiss guests for sharing this spiritual practice with us at nearby Haugh Woods. Two hours passed in no time, simply appreciating the beautiful surroundings of this nature reserve, listening to the sounds around: twittering birds, rustling bush, trickling streams. This is a sensory experience like nothing else. If you want to gain a deeper connection with the natural world, whilst helping to boost your well-being through the summer months, then we would thoroughly recommend this. 💚 #ForestBathing #WilderWellbeing #HerefordshireWildlifeTrust #VisitHerefordshire #Nature #UKstaycation

⚡️The energy at WHC is electric…literally! ⚡️ We are proud to finally announce that White House Cottages has partnered with VoltShare to install an #ElectricVehicle (EV) charging station on the property. Wave goodbye to your worries about EV charging in the countryside - you can now refuel from the comfort of a cosy cottage 🔌 We have also recently added a small fleet of #EBikes for guests to use at our properties. By providing EV charging and four e-Bikes ("Scotty", "Livvy", "Fifi" and "Harry"), our tandem ("Aylton John"), three normal cycles ("Gerry", "Trev", "Poppy") and a tag-along “woofer wagon”, we're trying to encourage guests to leave their cars and walk or bike from our door. Both initiatives represent another step forward in promoting sustainable travel and driving positive change within our community. Ever since our move, we’ve been committed to eco-friendly practices and do everything we can to provide our guests with a responsible travel experience. A big thank you to our incredible partners: Who Gives A Crap, Faith In Nature, smol , Octopus Energy, ecover + method | Europe , Krystal 100% Green Web Hosting, and ecologically responsible Rointe heating systems . Not forgetting EnviroRental who helped signpost the way! Next stop – our Sustonica independent sustainability audit and certification. We've welcomed so many like-minded travellers to our sustainable properties and hope to see more of you here soon ❤️ #Sustainability #VacationRental #EcoFriendly #GreenTravel #ResponsibleTourism

An inspiring Sustainability Conference dedicated to Short-Term Rentals last week. Lots of ideas shared by those businesses leading the way in our amazing industry 🌿 Our Action Plan Booklet has lots of things to include in our sustainability strategy going forward. Thanks Amit Bhatia for a great infographic with our key takeaways. #greenbusiness #shorttermrentals #innovation #wegobeyond Bob Garner ⓥ🌳 Rachel Parsons James Varley  Deborah L. Vanessa de Souza Lage Lisa Roads Paul Stevens  Graham Donoghue Alistair Malins Dale Smith Ufi Ibrahim Nikki Mattei James Dent Matt Guest Steven Core Charlotte McIntosh

🌍 Happy Earth Day! 🌱, We’re delighted to be featuring in a case study as EnviroRental “champions”. We’ve taken several steps in the environmental stewardship of our business highlighted in their blogpost.  Yesterday, for example, Angela emptied our HotBin with compost and will be using this in our new raised beds, where we’ll grow flowers for our welcome pack. And adding experiences where our guest meet the local community – bee-keepers, orchard growers, pig-feeding, as well as cycling quiet country lanes. Check our google reviews for some of the memories we have made for our guests. Tomorrow, Paul will attending SCALE Green, the first Sustainability Conference dedicated to Short-Term Rentals to learn about the a find out more about work done by those businesses leading the way in our amazing industry 🌿 https://lnkd.in/e5y5_ZsG #greenbusiness #shorttermrentals #innovation #wegobeyond Bob Garner ⓥ🌳 Rachel Parsons James Varley  David Atkin FIIRSM  Deborah L. Vanessa de Souza Lage Lisa Roads Paul Stevens  Graham Donoghue Alistair Malins

We’re big fans of Little Pomona. Westons Cider and Gregg’s Pit Cider & Perry are just down the county lane from us. We even have a tandem guests can borrow for a tour visit